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The risks of bleeding, clots and death were not reduced with heparin-free hemodialysis, according to a study in the journal Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation. Clinical outcomes were evaluated for 12,468 patients, and those with a history of gastrointestinal bleeding, lower hemoglobin and platelet counts, and hemorrhagic stroke were more likely to receive heparin-free hemodialysis.

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The CDC has called on dialysis centers to improve infection control practices due to new cases of hepatitis C in patients receiving hemodialysis. The agency has received reports of 36 infections over the past two years in people who were treated at 19 centers.

A study presented at the Kidney Week meeting in Philadelphia found that high serum levels of ferritin were associated with greater mortality risk in hemodialysis patients. In the study of 162,818 patients receiving thrice-weekly hemodialysis, patients with high levels of ferritin were 24% more likely to die of any cause and of causes related to infection, as well as 10% more likely to die of cardiovascular causes.

Giving tissue plasminogen activator to patients suffering a stroke who have been taking aspirin or the anticoagulant clopidogrel is not likely to cause fatal brain bleeding, a study published in the journal Academic Emergency Medicine found. Researchers examined data from more than 800 tPA-treated stroke patients and found no significant difference in the brain bleeding rate between patients taking clopidogrel or aspirin and those not taking either drug. The findings might not apply to patients taking warfarin, heparin, dabigatran or rivaroxaban, researchers noted.

Soluble ferric pyrophosphate, Rockwell Medical's iron deficiency drug candidate for patients on hemodialysis, lowered the need for erythropoietin stimulating agents by 37% in a study. The drug is in trials to support an FDA application.

The anticoagulant semuloparin, a type of heparin, reduced the risk of blood clots by 64% in patients undergoing cancer treatments, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers examined the cases of 3,000 patients in 47 countries. The experimental drug did not increase the risk of severe bleeding, the study found.